General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Sir Dighton Macnaghten Probyn, (21 January 1833 – 20 June 1924) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer and an English recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Early career

The son of Captain George Probyn and Alicia Workman, daughter of Sir Francis Workman Macnaghten, 1st Baronet, Dighton Probyn entered the light cavalry arm of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

's Bengal Army as a cornet in 1849, being posted into the 6th Light Cavalry. In 1852, he was appointed adjutant of the newly raised 2nd Punjab Cavalry which formed part of the 11,000 strong Punjab Irregular Force responsible for policing the Trans-Indus Frontier. At the time of the outbreak of the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

, on 10 May 1857, Dighton Probyn was at Jullundur, the station of the 6th Bengal Light Cavalry. Probyn's squadron of the 2nd Punjab Cavalry fought throughout the uprising, with Probyn being 'Mentioned in Despatches' many times for his actions. By the end of 1857 the squadron of 2nd Punjab Cavalry which Probyn commanded was frequently referred to as Probyn's Horse, as Lieutenant E. H. Verney, RN, records in ''The Shannon's Brigade in India'': During the final days of the fall of Lucknow in early 1858, the 2nd Punjab Cavalry was constantly engaged in patrolling and was frequently sent short distances in pursuit of fleeing mutineers and rebels. By this time, Probyn, worn down by the rigours of continual campaigning, was invalided back to England on 18 March 1858. By now a captain, he was brevetted to major in the regular army on 24 March 1858. Probyn was brevetted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Bengal Army on 15 February 1861. He was brevetted to colonel on 15 February 1866 and to major-general on 25 July 1870.

Victoria Cross

'Dighton Probyn, 2nd Punjab Cavalry, in Indian dress', 1857 (c)

Probyn was 24 years old, and a captain in the 2nd Punjab Cavalry, Bengal Army during the Indian Mutiny when the following deeds took place for which he was awarded the VC: His VC sold at auction on 24 September 2005 for £160,000.

Royal courtier

On 4 March 1872, the Prince of Wales, later

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

, appointed him as one of his equerries. He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the

Order of the Star of India The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes: # Knight Grand Commander ( GCSI) # Knight Commander ( KCSI) # Companion ( CSI) No appointmen ...

(KCSI) on 7 March 1876, and was brevetted to lieutenant-general on 1 October 1877. He was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Bengal Cavalry on 1 April 1881, and was transferred to the unemployed list on 1 July 1882. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

, Civil Division (KCB) in the 1887 Golden Jubilee Honours. On 1 December 1888, he was promoted to the local rank of general in the British Indian Army while unemployed, and was promoted to the substantive rank of colonel in the Bengal Cavalry on 1 April 1893. He was appointed one of the first Knights Grand Cross of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

(GCVO) on 26 May 1896. He was a councillor of the

Oxford Military College Oxford Military College was an all-male private boarding school and military academy in Cowley, Oxford, England, from 1876 to 1896. The military college opened on 7 September 1876. Prince George, Duke of Cambridge was the patron of the Oxfor ...

in Cowley, Oxfordshire from 1876 to 1896, and was appointed a member of the Privy Council on 9 February 1901. He was promoted to a Knight Grand Cross of the (civil division) Order of the Bath (GCB) in the

1902 Coronation Honours The 1902 Coronation Honours were announced on 26 June 1902, the date originally set for the coronation of King Edward VII. The coronation was postponed because the King had been taken ill two days before, but he ordered that the honours list shou ...

list published on 26 June 1902, and was invested by King

at Buckingham Palace on 8 August 1902. He was appointed a Companion of the Imperial Service Order (ISO) on 22 July 1903. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, Military Division (KCB (Mil.)) on 20 October 1909. He was in later life an ornament of the Victorian age, being

Keeper of the Privy Purse The Keeper of the Privy Purse and Treasurer to the King/Queen (or Financial Secretary to the King/Queen) is responsible for the financial management of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The officeholder is assisted by th ...

, a court sinecure position as well as Secretary to the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

and Comptroller of the Household. This was an important position as the

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

and

Princess Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subs ...

were both profligate in spending and Probyn had a hard job to keep them solvent. Testimony to his success was the fact that, when the Prince acceded at last in 1901, he was in credit at the bank. Probyn had difficulty hiding the King's extravagance, which the minister

Charles Hobhouse Sir Charles Edward Henry Hobhouse, 4th Baronet, TD, PC, JP (30 June 1862 – 26 June 1941) was a British Liberal politician and officer in the Territorial Force. He was a member of the Liberal cabinet of H. H. Asquith between 1911 and 191 ...

refused to defend in the Commons. Probyn continued in this role throughout the King's rule and right up to his death. He was appointed an Extra Equerry to King Edward VII in 1902. Probyn was totally devoted to the Princess, then Queen-Empress, building gardens for her at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...

and

Sandringham House Sandringham House is a country house in the parish of Sandringham, Norfolk, England. It is one of the royal residences of Charles III, whose grandfather, George VI, and great-grandfather, George V, both died there. The house stands in a estat ...

. The Queen returned the devotion, carrying round a knife with her to cut open his collar when he occasionally had seizures. In 1915 Probyn gave an engraved wristwatch to Captain Frank Beck, the officer who led the Sandringham Volunteers in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After he was killed during the Gallipoli Campaign, it was bought from a Turkish officer after the war and returned to Beck's family in 1922. Probyn had an impressive appearance in old age with a very long white beard reaching down to his navel which concealed his VC on ceremonial occasions.

Death

Probyn died on 20 June 1924. He was buried in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...

in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Family

Probyn married, in 1872, Letitia Maria Thellusson, daughter of Thomas Robarts Thellusson. Lady Probyn died at Park House,

Sandringham, Norfolk Sandringham is a village and civil parish in the north of the English county of Norfolk. The village is situated south of Dersingham, north of King's Lynn and north-west of Norwich.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Explorer Map 250 - Norfolk Coast ...

, on 17 January 1900.

Legacy

The 5th King Edward's Own Probyn's Horse popularly called Probyn's Horse, a regiment of the British Indian Army, was named after him; it is now part of the Pakistan Army and officially designated as 5 Horse. Probynabad, a town in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

province of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

with large farmlands owned by the regiment is also named after him. An '' Iris iberica'' hybrid was named 'Sir Dighton Probyn' in 1909 by Professor M. Foster.

References

External links

*
Auction details
''(Kensal Green Cemetery)''

Portrait of Colonel Probyn 1867
by

James Rannie Swinton James Rannie Swinton was a nineteenth-century Scottish portrait artist. Early life and family Born into Clan Swinton on 11 April 1816, James Rannie Swinton was the younger son of John Campbell Swinton of Kimmerghame, Berwickshire, and Cathe ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Probyn, Dighton Macnaghton 1833 births 1924 deaths British Indian Army generals British East India Company Army officers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Companions of the Imperial Service Order Indian Rebellion of 1857 recipients of the Victoria Cross People from Marylebone British recipients of the Victoria Cross British military personnel of the Umbeyla Campaign British military personnel of the Second Opium War Recipients of the Order of St. Anna Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom